How tall do you think the female characters are?

[False Dragon1991]

I asked this on another forum. They reckoned I had overestimated how tall I thought they were (cept Moraine, she beautiful midget :D), I figured Elayne was 6ft and Aviendha 6 2''. Elayne is described as tall and I pretty much assumed Maidens=Amazons and Aviendha=redhead Wonder Woman. I know Rand is meant to be 6 6 like most Aiel men and I never really felt he was meant to be THAT much taller than the women. Also, we were really surprised that Birgitte is shorter than Nynaeve and more than a hand shorter than Elayne. I always assumed she was pretty tall being a warrior and having this slightly fae like quality as one of the heroes.

 

BTW, on a side note, I love in New Spring where Moraine says that her height doesn't bother her but it blatently bothers her. Like when she nearly exploded when Cadsuane calls her a "cute little porcelain doll" and when she thinks several women might have been attractive "but they were too tall". Then, in Eye of the World, the very first thing Moraine thinks of to scare the Whitecloaks is make herself a hundred feet tall? I mean, come on... :D 

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

I don't see Jordan imagining his women that tall but it's just a feeling,

[Suttree]

Here are some heights given for the characters:

 

 

Interview: Oct 17th, 1994

LOC Signing Report - Erica Sadun (Paraphrased)

Erica Sadun

No spoilers.

Robert Jordan

Heights:

Rand—6'6"
Perrin—6'2"
Mat—5'11.5"
Aviendha—5'8-5'9
Elayne—5'6"
Nynaeve—5'4"
Egwene—5'2"
Moiraine—5'0-5'2

 

[False Dragon1991]

Yeah, I just wouldn't say 5 8 is tall for a woman myself. I am about 5 11 myself  and its pretty common to see women who are about the same height as me.  Whilst the Aeil are portrayed as being almost a people apart with most of the population being on average noticeably a lot taller than normal. You think if the average male height was scaled up to 6 6 then (Is Rand representative of average Aeil height?) you would expect the female average to be scaled up as well.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

5'4 is average

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

and RJ... liked... specific things

[False Dragon1991]

and RJ... liked... specific things

 

 

He liked short women or he was like the guy who created Wonder Woman? There are degrees to this...

 

There were moments when I was reading about the suldam and did think to myself....

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

yeah, there's some...

 

um...

 

skirt smoothing and plumply pretty bosoms, and hair pulling and spankings and leashes and....

 

everyone needs a muse.

[ratswot]

 

 Interview: Oct 17th, 1994

LOC Signing Report - Erica Sadun (Paraphrased)

Erica Sadun

No spoilers.

Robert Jordan

Heights:

Rand—6'6"

Perrin—6'2"

Mat—5'11.5"

Aviendha—5'8-5'9

Elayne—5'6"

Nynaeve—5'4"

Egwene—5'2"

Moiraine—5'0-5'2

 

I've always thought of Nynaeve being pretty tall 5'8"ish. Also didn't figure Egwene was 5'2". Also had her around 5'6" or 5'7".

[False Dragon1991]

 

 

 Interview: Oct 17th, 1994

LOC Signing Report - Erica Sadun (Paraphrased)

Erica Sadun

No spoilers.

Robert Jordan

Heights:

Rand—6'6"

Perrin—6'2"

Mat—5'11.5"

Aviendha—5'8-5'9

Elayne—5'6"

Nynaeve—5'4"

Egwene—5'2"

Moiraine—5'0-5'2

 

I've always thought of Nynaeve being pretty tall 5'8"ish. Also didn't figure Egwene was 5'2". Also had her around 5'6" or 5'7".

 

 

Actually I'd say I pretty much had Nynaeve down as being about that height. Small woman, over-bearing personality and towering ego. But yeah, I never had Egwene down as a midget.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

5'2" is not a midget thank you very much

[Agitel]

5'5" is actually around average for a woman, so take that as you will.

[Elynde]

5'2" is not a midget thank you very much

 

Agreed.  I am only 5'2", which is wonderfully tall for women in my family.  Now, my grandmother standing only 4'8"...  Well...  That height is debatable in my book.

 

Still, I pegged Rand at a few inches taller for some reason.  Probably because I am used to seeing guys who stand 6' with a hand's height to spare.  Moraine, I had figured the height on fairly accurately based on descriptions of her talking to various characters.

[False Dragon1991]

Bit touchy aren't we? Some Moiraine syndrome going on here I think.  :D

 

Seriously it was so WTF when Moiraine made an illusion of herself as a giant. That woman really doesn't like being short! She plays it completely mature and respectful then she does something childish like that like that. I really laughed when afterwards a shocked Egwene asks about her being as big as a giant and Moiraine just passes it off as "Was I?" casual as anything.  :D

 

But that aside, this is heroic fantasy and you would expect some of the women main characters to be bit taller than normal IMO especially when there is a race of really tall people in the series.   

[ratswot]

How tall is Harriet? I'm guessing quite short and this might go some way in explaining TWOT height issues. :-)

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

it's rjs fantasy and he liked m how he liked em

 

*tugs braid*

[driedraspberry]

 

 

 

 Interview: Oct 17th, 1994

LOC Signing Report - Erica Sadun (Paraphrased)

Erica Sadun

No spoilers.

Robert Jordan

Heights:

Rand—6'6"

Perrin—6'2"

Mat—5'11.5"

Aviendha—5'8-5'9

Elayne—5'6"

Nynaeve—5'4"

Egwene—5'2"

Moiraine—5'0-5'2

 

I've always thought of Nynaeve being pretty tall 5'8"ish. Also didn't figure Egwene was 5'2". Also had her around 5'6" or 5'7".

 

 

Actually I'd say I pretty much had Nynaeve down as being about that height. Small woman, over-bearing personality and towering ego. But yeah, I never had Egwene down as a midget.

 

I thought the first description we got for Nyn and Egwene via Rand in tEotW was that they were small, dark women. 5'2" isn't a midget though, that's a pretty normal height for petit women. I wish Min was there. I started off thinking she'd be around Egwene/Nyn's height but then there is a part (via Elyane) where Min is in heels and apparently almost as tall as Avi who I thought was like 5'10-11. Since Rand isn't an exception amongst the Aiel I would think their women average at supermodel height, freakishly tall as they are collectively.